Language History

﻿By the late Roman Republic (75 BC), Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin. Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. ﻿

Later, Early Modern Latin and New Latin evolved. Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. ﻿

﻿

﻿Ecclesiastical Latin remains the official language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Latin is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. Latin is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders, up to seven noun cases, five declensions, four verb conjugations, three tenses, three persons, three moods, two voices, two or three aspects and two numbers.﻿

﻿

The following is a conventional chronology for the language and literature:﻿

Archaic through Early Republican Period (down to ca. 80 BC)

Late Republican and Augustan period (the "Golden Age") (80 BC - 14 AD)